The Incredible Benefits of Giving Up Smoking

The numerous benefits of giving up smoking, amazingly enough, begin the minute the last cigarette has been smoked as the body has the incredible ability to begin healing itself, and slowly reversing the ravages of smoking. So, never make the mistake of thinking you're too old to quit, or you've been smoking for so long know that it wouldn't matter, as nothing could actually be further from the truth.

Although there is definitely a point when certain damage is indeed irreversible, giving up smoking will prevent further damage from occurring, making it easier to breathe, and increasing both circulation and energy. Also, cigarette smoking happens to be the number one preventable cause of deaths in the U.S., an incredible benefit all in itself and a great incentive to finally break free from the dangerous habit once and for all.

Even second-hand smoke, or environmental tobacco smoke as it's now referred to as, that many smokers argue is harmless, is directly responsible for more than 3,000 deaths each year in the United States alone. Besides the obvious benefits to your own health, think of the loved ones around you who are also breathing in the same poisons, but not due to their own actions and may be suffering from it if you need yet another reason to quit.

Reducing the Risk of Disease

The number of conditions, ailments, and diseases, many of them deadly, that are directly related to cigarette smoke is astounding. The first, and most often talked about, is lung cancer, which usually results in a rather painful death. But, smoking doesn't only cause cancer of the lung tissue as it's also been associated with cancer of the mouth and throat, as well as the esophagus, the pharynx, the bladder and the pancreas. And also, heart disease, which has increasingly been on the rise, especially in women, over the last two decades, and also related to smoking.

3 Short Term Benefits of Quitting Smoking

1. Circulation both improves and increases as after one half hour after quitting smoking, the body's pulse, blood pressure, and temperature all return to within the normal range.

2. Enjoy increased energy as the levels of oxygen in the blood rise while the levels of suffocating carbon monoxide decrease.

3. The risk for having a heart attack decrease dramatically within only the first 24 hours of quitting smoking.

3 Long Term Benefits of Quitting Smoking

1. After a short five to 15 years of being smoke-free, an ex-smoker has about the same risk of having a stroke as someone who never smoked at all.

2. Increased fertility for both males and females, and the risks of miscarriage, premature delivery, stillbirths, and SIDS are all decreased.

3. Enjoy a longer lifespan and a lesser chance of dying from any number of serious diseases and conditions.

By quitting smoking, you'll also stop slowly and continually poisoning yourself as well. When you smoke a cigarette, you're getting a whole lot more than nicotine, more than 4,000 different chemicals to be exact, many of which are in products such as insecticides, rat poison, arsenic, DDT, and nail polish remover. This doesn't even include the other poisonous gases and tar that you're inhaling with each and every puff.